It was with great sadness that we heard of the death of our beloved retired teacher and colleague, Mrs Carmel Casey during the Easter holidays. She is remembered as an excellent teacher of Irish and History who had a great love for her subjects. She was extremely hardworking and always had high expectations for her students. Her caring nature was very evident through her work at Mercy Ballymahon. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Jimmy and family at this very sad time.

News:

Thanks to Michael John Harney a past pupil who spoke to 6th year students about the various pathways to where you want to go and what you want to do with your life after the Leaving Cert.

5th year Interviews for the role of helpers on the Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage were held before Easter and congratulations to the two successful candidates Ciara Healy and Kevin Lynch. A huge thank you to Sr. Úna and Sr. Angela who interviewed all the candidates.

Thanks to all who supported the annual Easter raffle. €3,400 was raised. The raffle was held on Friday 23rd of March. The winners were as follows; 1st prize, B & B in the Wineport and Dinner for two was won by Chloe Freeman. The 2nd prize, €100 voucher won by Emer Gavigan. The 3rd prize, an Easter hamper was won by Paulina Zajac. The 4th prize, an Easter hamper went to Claire Beirne. The 5th prize, an Easter hamper was won by Mr Walsh. The seller’s prize was won by Dúileach Ryan and Michael O Leary.

Well done to all the students who did their Music and Home Economics practicals, French and Spanish orals last week. Irish orals are on this week.

Sport:

The U14 girls’ football team, coached by Mr. Seery and Ms. McTiernan, won the last match of their group stage against the Sacred Heart Secondary School, Tullamore. They are now through to the knockout stages of the competition.

Commiserations to the senior boys’ football team, coached by Mr. O’Gara and Mr. McCormack, for their loss against Cnoc Mhuire, Granard in the Longford League final held in Pearse Park on Thursday 22nd of March.

Congratulations to the 1st year boys’ basketball team, coached by Mr. Dempsey who won the Regional final against Colaiste Óireall on Thursday 22nd March.

Transition Year:

Thanks to the School of Excellence Safe Driving team , all TY students have now completed a Safe Driving course.

Thanks to Geraldine from Samaritans who spoke about the work of the Samaritans to all TY classes last week

Transition year students – Rebecca Gill, Ali O’Connor and Zoe Guinane under the guidance of Ms. Noone are participating in the Scifest competition in DCU on the 24th April with their project entitled “An investigation into the way digital devices alter our perception of time”. The project involves reading a piece of text for 2 minutes on a digital device and then again on a hard copy. The participants must estimate when they think the 2 minutes are up while their actual times are being recorded. The results are then analysed to see whether using a digital device changes perception of time. Also they have produced a survey regarding people’s use of phones and watches. They are analysing if people who wear watches have a better perception of time elapsed.

James Murphy, Shane Prior and Ali O Connor are working on Sugar Tax Competition organised by the Irish Tax Institute and which is open to transition year students. They have to upload a two minute video presentation by Monday 18th of April. Thanks to Mr. Staunton for his guidance.

Thought for the week:

Remember the 3 time rule

1. Look over work before class

2. Listen in Class

3. Look over after class

Information heard 3 times can be remembered up to 9 weeks later. For information heard once, 50% can be lost within 24 hours. Following the 3 time rule is what is expected of students in College. Start today, make a difference.